1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle sun visors adapted to be mounted to a vehicle cabin ceiling.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a vehicle sun visor has a visor body pivotally supported by a horizontal rod portion of a support rod that is mounted to a vehicle cabin ceiling. The visor body is able to move between a storage position adjacent to the vehicle cabin ceiling and a light shielding position adjacent to the front windshield as the visor body pivots about the axis of the horizontal rod portion of the support rod.
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 62-197422 teaches a vehicle sun visor that has a support device enabling a visor body to move into and be withdrawn from a storage space defined within the vehicle cabin ceiling. The visor body can pivot about a horizontal rod when the visor body has reached the end or limit of the withdrawing movement (i.e., a fully withdrawn position).
Therefore, according to the arrangement of this publication, the appearance of the vehicle cabin ceiling will not be degraded by the constant exposure of the visor body, since the visor body can be concealed within the storage space of the vehicle cabin ceiling when the visor body is in a storage position.
However, in order to move the visor body to a desired light shielding position, it is necessary to initially fully withdraw the visor body to the end of the withdrawal stroke. Then, the visor body can pivot to a desired angular position about the horizontal rod portion. Therefore, the resulting operation is relatively cumbersome and somewhat troublesome. In addition, it is difficult to motorize the visor body in order to enable an automatic movement of the visor body.
Further, a sun visor is also known that has a visor body movable between a front light shielding position adjacent to a front windshield, and a side light shielding position adjacent to a side window, in addition to being moveable between a storage position adjacent to a vehicle cabin ceiling and the front light shielding position. To this end, a substantially L-shaped support rod having a horizontal rod portion and a vertical rod portion is rotatably mounted to the vehicle cabin ceiling. More specifically, the vertical rod portion is rotatably mounted to a boss portion of a bracket that is fixed to the vehicle cabin ceiling. The visor body is rotatably mounted to the horizontal rod portion. Therefore, the visor body can move between the front light shielding position and the storage position as the visor body pivots about the axis of the horizontal rod portion. In addition, the visor body can move between the front light shielding position and the side light shielding position as the visor body pivots about the axis of the vertical rod portion.
During the movement of the visor body from the front light shielding position to the side light shielding position, an end of the visor body positioned furthest from the vertical pivotal axis moves along a circular path about the vertical pivotal axis. The circular path has a radius substantially corresponding to the horizontal length of the visor body. Therefore, the driver and/or the passenger must typically move himself or herself out of the circular path of the visor body during such movement of the visor body. Therefore, the operation of the visor body interferes with the driver and/or passenger and is troublesome in this respect.
Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 58-19813 teaches a sun visor that is configured to substantially reduce the path of movement of the visor body from a front light shielding position to a side light shielding position. The radius of movement is approximately half of the radius in comparison with the previously described circular path. As shown in FIG. 27, according to the sun visor of this publication the end of a horizontal rod portion 101 of an L-shaped support rod 100, located away from the vertical rod portion 100a, is bent substantially vertically downward to form a vertical bent portion 102. The vertical bent portion 102 is rotatably inserted into a hinge member 105. The hinge member 105 has a horizontal extension 106 to which a central portion (with respect to the horizontal direction) of a visor body 110 is pivotally mounted.
However, according to this configuration of the above publication as the visor body 110 is pivoted from a front light shielding position to a side light shielding position, the visor body 110 pivots in one direction about the vertical rod portion 100a of the support rod 100. The visor body 110 is also simultaneously pivoted in an opposite direction about the vertical bent portion 102 located at the other end of the horizontal rod portion 101 of the support rod 100. Therefore, the complex pivotal movement of the visor body 110 tends to become unstable, resulting in relative degradation of the operability of the sun visor.